Nieman Foundation at Harvard
HOME
          
LATEST STORY
Journalists fight digital decay
ABOUT                    SUBSCRIBE
Sept. 5, 2014, 2:57 p.m.
Mobile & Apps
LINK: gigaom.com  ➚   |   Posted by: Justin Ellis   |   September 5, 2014

Netflix wants to boost its mobile audience and plans to make shorter, bite-sized videos to do it. According to Janko Roettgers at Gigaom, the streaming media company plans to create 2-5 minute video clips specifically targeted at mobile viewers. The catch is that Netflix won’t be producing new content, but slicing up scenes from its catalog of movies, TV shows, and comedy specials. Like many media companies, Netflix is seeing a shift in the consumption patterns and interests of its audience:

Davis said Thursday that most Netflix content is still watched on TV screens, but that mobile is seeing the biggest growth, in part because of the way phones have been changing. “As screen sizes are becoming bigger, watching content on phones becomes more natural,” he said.

That development prompted Netflix to take mobile more seriously, and while researching the space, Netflix’s designers came upon an unexpected challenge: 87 percent of all mobile sessions last less than ten minutes — but Netflix didn’t have any content that was less than ten minutes long. That’s why the company decided to experiment with shorter-form content.

It’s an interesting move that lines up with interest in things like, say, seconds-long clips of crucial soccer goals. It also mirrors recent short-form video products like NFL Now and 120 Sports.

Show tags
 
Join the 60,000 who get the freshest future-of-journalism news in our daily email.
Journalists fight digital decay
“Physical deterioration, outdated formats, publications disappearing, and the relentless advance of technology leave archives vulnerable.”
A generation of journalists moves on
“Instead of rewarding these things with fair pay, job security and moral support, journalism as an industry exploits their love of the craft.”
Prediction markets go mainstream
“If all of this sounds like a libertarian fever dream, I hear you. But as these markets rise, legacy media will continue to slide into irrelevance.”